And the Suns Never Rise: A Story of Alpha Centauri

The Turning

After all the preparations were complete, the small crowd of vampires and Christiana circled around Haruhi-nee's hospital bed. They stood there in silence until Miss Harris began giving Haruhi-nee some last-minute instructions.

"Haruhi, this will be just like the treatments you have been getting. However, you will have to drink my blood until I say stop. Do you understand so far?"

"Yes," Haruhi-nee responded with a wide grin.

"There is one thing that I have yet to tell you," Miss Harris said. "After you have finished drinking the blood, your body will experience extreme pain."

"Why is that?" Christiana asked. This was the first time she had heard of this part of the turning process.

"Because Haruhi will die at that point. The good news is that the pain usually only last for ten to fifteen minutes," Cooper answered.

"That's a relief," Haruhi-nee chimed in.

"Unfortunately, there are no pain killers powerful enough to stop the pain, but a spinal block like the one Haruhi currently has can ease the pain somewhat. Now, after learning about the pain involved in turning are you still ready to undergo the turning?" Miss Harris asked Haruhi-nee.

"Yes, I am still willing to undergo the procedure. Anything is better than being stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life," Haruhi-nee said. "Besides, Chris-imouto chose this path for me and I want to see it to the end."

"Then we shall proceed with the turning since you have decided to go through with it."

Miss Harris called for the nurse. The nurse promptly bought in a scalpel and handed it to Miss Harris. Then the nurse promptly left the room.

"Now to begin, I have to ask you some questions, Haruhi. This is the ritual our clan uses when they turn someone." Miss Harris explained.

"Ok," Haruhi responded.

"Do you Haruhi Washington gee-emm Hirohito come to this proud clan, Stellae Sanguine, to request entry?" Miss Harris asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Did you Haruhi Washington gee-emm Hirohito come of your own free will?"

"Yes, I guess..."

"Do you Haruhi Washington gee-emm Hirohito understand all the drawbacks of becoming a vampire as well as the benefits?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand and are you willing to follow the rules of Stellae Sanguine?"

"Yes."

"Then we may proceed." Miss Harris said. Then she held up the scalpel and said, "With the blood, I give to you I make you blood of my blood. Kin of my kin."

Then she slashed her wrist and held it to Haruhi-nee's mouth. Haruhi drank as much as she could before the cut healed itself. The miss Harris slashed her wrist again, and again, all the while making sure that Haruhi-nee drank her fill.

"That is enough," the blonde-haired man said. "If you don't stop now, then you won't be able to make another scion for decades."

"Yes sir," Miss Harris replied meekly.

It was quite clear to Christiana that this young-looking male was in charge of the family. "Admiral Duflot," she muttered, unaware that vampire hearing easily made out what she was saying.

The blond man smiled at her and said, "You called?"

---

It surprised Christiana that she had been right about the blonde man's identity. Duflot was almost a mythical being in the history books. Very few of the colonists had ever seen him because he never left the Crew Ring. In fact, only the most senior members of the crew ever interacted with him on a regular basis. Yet here he was, standing there and staring at her with his dark green eyes.

"It is nice to meet you, Admiral," Christiana said while holding her hand out for a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, Christiana," he said as he shook her hand. "And please call me Duflot just as everyone else here calls me."

Just then, Haruhi-nee let out an anguished scream and she began thrashing about. "It hurts, it hurts so bad!"

"It will be over soon and the spinal block, believe it or not, is numbing the pain for you," Miss Harris assured her.

Meanwhile, Christiana rushed to her womb mate's side, hoping to comfort her in some way. Even if she took Haruhi-nee's hand in her own, the spinal block would make it impossible for her Sister to feel it. 'I don't know what to do to help,' she thought. All she could do was to watch her other half writhe on her hospital bunk and wail in agony.

"Haruhi I want you to focus on my eyes," Duflot said as he bent over Haruhi-nee. "It will help to ease the pain."

Haruhi-nee did just that, and her shrieks slowly stopped. She also stopped thrashing about. "I'm scared," Haruhi-nee managed to say once she had calmed down.

It was Miss Harris who spoke next. "I know you are frightened. I felt the same way when I was turned. Just remember that it will all be over soon."

"Okay," Haruhi-nee said, never taking her eyes off of Duflot's.

"How much longer will this continue to go on?" Christiana asked.

"She's about halfway there," Miss Cooper said. "She won't be conscious towards the very end of the turning because of the extreme pain involved."

"That's a relief," Christiana said. "At least she won't have to endure this suffering much longer."

"Exactly," Miss Cooper replied.

---

The process continued, and even Duflot's gaze began to wear off, leaving Haruhi-nee in excruciating pain once again. However, her screams were becoming weaker and weaker as her body lost its strength.

Finally, Haruhi-nee went quiet and her eyes closed, her heartbeat and respiration slowing to otherwise dangerous levels.

As this was going on, Christiana's worry over the process became stronger and stronger. 'I really hope that Haruhi-nee's going to turn correctly,' she thought as her womb-mate finally died.

Mere seconds passed before Christiana started screaming at the top of her lungs. "She's gone! She's gone!" Then she fell to her knees while clutching her head with her hands.

"I'll go get the doctor," Miss Cooper said as she ran off towards the proper office only to be passed by Duflot as he sped by.

In the meantime, Christiana had collapsed on the floor while still clutching her head. "She's gone!" Christiana exclaimed over and over again.

"Christiana, what are you talking about? If you look at the monitors, you can see that Haruhi's vitals are coming back up to normal." Miss Harris asked.

"I can't feel her in my mind anymore," Christiana explained. "I feel like part of me has just died!"

"So you two had a telepathic bond and no one has noticed before," Miss Harris said. "Hopefully it will be re-established once she completely turned."

Christiana was now rolling around on the floor in agony, and could barely hear what Miss Harris was saying.

Suddenly, Christiana felt a weight on her stomach, so she opened her eyes to see what was happening. Haruhi-nee was on top of her and was holding out her only remaining appendage. Haruhi-nee's wrist had been slashed and blood welled out of the wound. "Drink and the pain should go away in a few minutes."

By this point, Christiana would do anything to stop the pain and loneliness, so she drank Haruhi's blood with no qualms.

---